* Canadian dollar at C$1.3052 or 76.62 U.S. cents
* Bond prices mostly lower across the maturity curve
TORONTO, Oct 8 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar squeezed out
a tiny gain against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday as crude
oil prices edged higher.
There was with little economic news to set the currencies'
direction ahead of the release of the U.S. Federal Reserve's
September meeting minutes later in the session and Canadian jobs
data on Friday.
Market participants are hoping the Fed minutes, due at 2:00
p.m. EDT (1800 GMT), will shed light on the central bank's view
of the U.S. and global economies and timing for resuming
interest rates hikes.
* At 9:32 a.m. ET, the Canadian dollar was trading
at C$1.3052 to the greenback, or 76.62 U.S. cents, slightly
firmer than the Bank of Canada's official close of C$1.3065, or
76.54 U.S. cents on Wednesday.
* The currency was trading within a very narrow range, with
the strongest level of the session touching C$1.3022 and the
weakest at C$1.3074.
* Canadian employment data for September is due on Friday at
8:30 a.m. EDT.
* In economic data news, new home prices in Canada rose by
0.3 percent in August from July on continued strength in
Ontario. Market analysts polled by Reuters had expected a 0.2
percent increase.
* The number of Americans filing new applications for
jobless benefits last week fell more than expected, by 13,000 to
near a 42-year low, pointing to ongoing tightening in the labor
market despite the recent slowdown in hiring.
* Canadian government bond prices were mostly lower across
the maturity curve, but the two-year price was flat
to yield 0.532 percent, while the benchmark 10-year
was also flat to yield 1.456 percent.
* The Canada-U.S. two-year bond spread was -10.9 basis
points, while the 10-year spread was -60.7 basis points.
(Reporting by Solarina Ho; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)